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DESIGN BY NATURE:BIOMIMETICS - Coggle Diagram
DESIGN BY NATURE:BIOMIMETICS
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Biologist Andrew Parker observed how the thorny devil lizard collects water by absorbing it through its skin.
This ability inspired Parker to create a device that could collect water in the desert.
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Parker works in biomimetics, using nature's designs to create useful tools in areas like engineering and medicine.
He has used inspiration from insects and ancient fossils to improve technologies, such as brighter phone screens and more efficient solar panels.
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Parker shared his research with two MIT colleagues, Rubner and Cohen, to develop a water-collection device.
Parker is excited about nature’s potential, while Rubner and Cohen focus on creating practical, usable technology.
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Rubner and Cohen see nature as a starting point, but they aim to improve on these designs for real-world use.
They believe biomimetics is successful only if it leads to something useful and not just an imitation of nature.
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Biomimetics is becoming more popular worldwide, with research using nature's designs leading to new technologies.
Examples include using whale fins to improve wind turbines and studying termite mounds for better building designs.
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Biomimetics has the potential to create robots, such as a tiny robot fly for surveillance or rescue work.
Though the technology is still developing, researchers like Ronald Fearing believe robots will improve over time.
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Mark Cutkosky from Stanford University is working on a robot gecko that can climb vertical surfaces, inspired by the tiny structures on a gecko’s feet.
The U.S. military funds the project, hoping the robot can climb buildings for surveillance.
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Biomimetics has had few commercial successes, with Velcro being one of the few well-known products.
The complexity of nature and the time required for research have slowed commercial success, but new technologies are helping to close the gap.